However, FOX Sports/FS1 reporter Bruce Feldman cautioned media to "pump the brakes" after he spoke to Kingsbury's agent, who alluded to the USC reports as "premature."

Kingsbury was fired Sunday, November 25th after a season-ending loss to Baylor, which squashed the team's hopes for a post-season bowl game. The loss put Kingsbury at 35-40 overall in his six seasons as head coach at Texas Tech.

"This type of decision...it's not based on one game. This type of decision is not based on one season. This decision was made based on a three-year pattern of inconsistency," said Hocutt. "We didn't come here to win five, six games for our football season to end in November. There was a pattern of inconsistency that led us to this decision at this time. We saw progress at times, and we talked about that. We saw progress. But we also saw lapses of progress in key critical areas that, in the game of football, are critical to have the level of sense that we all want to have."